Modern statistics encroaching on the magic of sports

Smart people can be really dumb. Monday night I watched the Texas Rangers come from behind in their final offensive frame to beat the Colorado Rockies 4-3. This all came after I read a blog post dated June 23 that detailed the many reasons why the Rangers were headed for disaster despite having a 10-game lead in their division with the best record in the American League at the time. A “mirage,” I believe, is the nickname the writer used for the first-place ball club. As of Aug. 9, the Rangers have a seven-game lead in their division and remain the top team in the American League despite July being by far their worst month of the season. This all got me thinking about the way we use numbers in sports and how statistics have suddenly become more important than actual results for fans. You see, this particular writer had several equations and complex mathematics that clearly showed that the Rangers shouldn’t be so good. The problem for him is that the Rangers ARE good. Modern statistics have transformed nearly every sport at the professional, college and high school level. Statistics can break down the most minute thing that occurs on the field or court. “How many dribbles did Joe take before he passed to John?” “We shoot five percent better when he takes three dribbles before he passes.” I appreciate the role that math and stats play in sports. They enhance the games and allow players to get closer to their true best, but there is a new crop of sports fan that only sees players, games and seasons as statistical data that add to the sample size. Not noticing, or perhaps not understanding, that sports are played and coached by humans who don’t always think in terms of spreadsheets. Here’s a local example for you. In 2012 the Steers football team beat Springtown 32-28 in a game that ended in dramatic fashion. Facing a fourth down with about 40 yards to the first down marker, Ben Davis hit Jerrod Mahan on a 46-yard deep cross that continued the drive and allowed Graham to score in the final minutes of the game to win. Now, looking at the stats clearly shows Mahan averaged an admirable 23 yards per catch that year, though he only caught 15 passes. And though Mahan’s average was high, it was still only half of what he needed to get that first down. But the Steers were able to accomplish the gargantuan task because the coach called the right play, the line blocked the right way, the receiver ran the right route and the quarterback threw the right pass. More so, Mahan shook off a couple of would-be tacklers and found his way out of bounds to stop the clock. It was an impressive display of a kid’s will to do whatever it took. Does a rookie pitcher miss his target inside, leaving a perfect pitch over the plate every “x” number of throws, or does he miss his spot because the circumstances and magnitude of the pitch have him just slightly rattled? Sports are a display of humanity. I understand that the modern sports fan appreciates statistics, but data shouldn’t be used as a “pass” to ignore the people and situations of the game. That takes the humanity out of sports, and it’s the people who make the game great.